Is it time to rethink our obsession with the culture of positivity?

It's been a tough week - and yet we are still urged to keep smiling. A new book says maybe it's time to just embrace how we really feel 

Don’t Bother: A Misguided Mindlessness Journal celebrates procrastination and having a bit of a moan, in the same way so many journals scream positivity

There's a new diary out which is a tongue in cheek response to the culture of positivity. It's called Don’t Bother: A Misguided Mindlessness Journal and celebrates procrastination and having a bit of a moan in the same way so many journals scream positivity. Written by Millie O’Neill and published by Octopus Books it’s a journal that embraces mindlessness, procrastination, laziness, ingratitude, and bad habits. It puts the 'pro' in procrastinate and is a guided anti-journal for people who like themselves just the way they are.

It’s a fun take on the ‘always happy’ way of life that is so heavily promoted these days — but behind its jokiness is a real message. There has been a small but vocal backlash against what some mental health professionals are calling Toxic Positivity in recent months and there has begun to be a shift away from the need to be permanently happy. Constant joy and daily gratitude lists seem like a big ask of anyone at any time but this year in particular it seems truly impossible. If we're all expected to be constantly grateful, positive and optimistic, what happens to your sad or negative feelings? Especially during a global pandemic.